A Wine Story ....

New Trends for 2008 by Marisa D'Vari

     In his Diner's Journal for the NYT, Frank Bruni polled several movers and shakers in the NY wine/food community about what's hot. The experts include Clark Wolf, David Bouley, David Burke, and others in the NYC restaurant scene talking about trends for the coming year.

     Some of the predicted "trends" seemed more like wishful thinking on the part of those questioned for the poll, such as "a return to adult dining" (meaning the hip meatpacking restaurants with loud music and club lounge ambiance) are over.

     Actually, the only trend I agreed with is the very strong trend of hotels contracting out restaurant space to "celebrity chefs" such as Gordon Ramsey at the New London Hotel in New York.

     Supporting this is an article read on USA Today about trends at the Ritz-Carlton, part of which reads:

Restaurants. The chain is closing down most of the Ritz dining rooms and replacing them with destination restaurants that often involve well-known chefs such as Gordon Ramsay. The old, formal dining rooms, though well-loved and often critically acclaimed, were rarely profitable, Cooper says. Ritz also started letting hotel owners contract out restaurants.

As for other trends, I see:

1. Wines from New Zealand and South Africa appearing on more wine lists.

2. A new look to wine menus, with wines described by grape variety, flavor, and texture (along with food pairing suggestions).

3. More wines (and more unusual wines) offered by the glass.

4. More half-bottles stocked by upper-end restaurants.

5. Increased use of "quartinos" in upper end casual and upscale restaurants (a quartino is a little more than a pint, or about two and a half glasses).

6. Small "tasting" desserts.

7. Flights of dessert.

We'll see what the future holds!